South Korea confirms the North is giving up its data on enriched plutonium with a six month delay. Doubts still remain about their accuracy, but Pyongyang risks losing its ties with China and South Korea if it does not meet expectations.

Beijing (AsiaNews) – North Korea has handed over a long-awaited account (six months overdue) of its nuclear programme to China. It is expected to detail North Korea's plutonium enrichment efforts in exchange for economic assistance and energy supplies, South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan confirmed.

China has announced that the United States has agreed that it would take measures to remove the country from its list of states sponsoring terrorism.

But the account’s credibility and North Korea’s sincerity still remain a problem

The statement should detail North Korea's plutonium enrichment efforts at the Yongbon reactor where North Korea’s nuclear programme was launched. But analysts say it is not expected to mention its alleged and separate uranium enrichment programme or any details of its nuclear arsenal.

Should the North Korean regime fail to meet the expectations of the international community, it can lose a lot.

Subject to a tight embargo, the country is on teetering on the edge with famine threatening its population.

And concerns also involve the military. Thus far North Korean generals have been loyal to Kim Jong-il, but they might lose patience with him should the country be squeezed by China and South Korea.

Both Seoul and Beijing have in fact stressed that this is their “last warning” for Pyongyang.

Should there be doctored information or hidden arsenals, North Korea would lose Chinese support, which alone allows the regime to survive.

• north
• korea
• china
• south
• korea
• united
• states
• nuclear
• programme
• enrichment
• plutonium